The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
at Meteor Crater - 35 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona off I-40
A Historical wonder and museum that honors the U.s. Space Program
October 3, 2022 and a quick Flashback to 1987

USA map showing location of Arizonamap of Arizona showing where Meteor Crater is located

Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater approximately 43 miles east of Flagstaff, in the northern Arizona desert of the United States. Because the U.S. Department of the Interior Division of Names commonly recognizes names of natural features derived from the nearest post office, the feature acquired the name of "Meteor Crater" from the nearby post office named Meteor.

The site was formerly known as the Canyon Diablo Crater, and fragments of the meteorite are officially called the Canyon Diablo Meteorite. Scientists refer to the crater as Barringer Crater in honor of Daniel Barringer, who was first to suggest that it was produced by meteorite impact.

The crater is privately owned by the Barringer family through their Barringer Crater Company, which proclaims it to be "the most well known, best preserved meteorite crater on Earth".

Despite its importance as a geological site, the crater is not protected as a National Monument, a status that would require federal ownership. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in November 1967.

Meteor Crater lies at an elevation of about 5,709 feet above sea level. It is about 4,000 feet in diameter, some 570 feet deep, and is surrounded by a rim that rises 150 feet above the surrounding plains.

The center of the crater is filled with 700,000 feet of rubble lying above crater bedrock. One of the interesting features of the crater is its squared-off outline, believed to be caused by pre-existing regional cracks in the strata at the impact site.

Meteor Crater Road
Meteor Crater Road scenery
Meteor Crater Road scenery
Meteor Crater Road scenery
Meteor Crater Road signs
speed limit for meteors
Meteor Crater Road scenery
4 miles to impact
3 miles to impact
the road to the Meteor Crater

Below: Approaching Meteor Crater

building
meteor crater sign

Below:The two walked around the exterior of the building before entering the building and paying the entry fee.

Meteor Crater layout map
about Boiler Plate 29A
Boiler plate 29
Apollo Test Capsule
Lee Duquette and an astronaut
Karen Duquette and an alien

Then it was time to enter the building and pay the entry fee. Then they watched a free movie as advertised in the photo below. It was narrated by the stupid-looking bunny shown below and was boring, except for a few trivial questions and answers shown below.

4-D movie
about Sally Ride
meteor crater quiz
meteor crater quiz answer
meteor crater quiz
meteor crater quiz answer

Below: Then the two RV Gypsies went behind the building to see the Meteor Crater for their second time, the first time was in 1987 and Karen and Lee Duquette were the only two people around. This time there were people everywhere. Also in 1987, there was no building showing movies, the history, or selling stuff. And the flag and astronaut (shown in the below photos) were not there either.

Flashbackclock running backwardsThe two RV Gypsies thought you would like a FLASHBACK to Meteor Crater in 1987 when this place was not commercialized. There was No fee to enter, no building with history, no gates, no directional signs along the road (like those shown above), and not even the big parking lot as in 2022.

Plus there were very few people here as shown below in the one photo taken in 1987. By the time this website was built, other photos from 1987 were lost because Karen Duquette could not take all the photo albums in the RV, so she had to pull them out of photo albums, and put them in a box that got lost.

So from 1987, the two RV Gypsies only have one photo, (shown below). When they returned here in 2022. there WAS a fee to enter, signs along the roadway (as shown above), a big parking lot, fun stuff outside, a movie inside the building, and people everywhere out back.

Meteor Crater

Below: 2022 photos

meteor crater building

Below: The two RV Gypsies went behind the building to view Meteor Crater in 2022. A 6-foot tall astronaut and a 3' x 5' USA Flag was added. But they are so far down in the center of the crater, that Karen Duquette had to zoom in to see them.

Lee Duquette at Meteor Crater
6-foot tall astronaut
astronaut and USA flag
astronaut and USA flag
astronaut and USA flag
Karen Duquette at Meteor Crater
Karen Duquette at Meteor Crater

Below: Several views of the crater. The Astronaut and flag are hard to see (the above photos were cropped closer from these photos.)

Meteor Crater
Meteor Crater
Meteor Crater
Karen Duquette at Meteor Crater
Meteor Crater
Meteor Crater
Karen Duquette at Meteor Crater
Meteor Crater
panorama

look below

go to the next adventure Continue on to Winslow, Arizona on Route 66